Shimmer
by KaleidoscopeEyes80
Summary: The Avada Kedavra spell has some…unintended after effects. Harry goes to Hogwarts a bit wiser, and with several new friends to rely on. The only problem is, only he can see them. Slytherin!Harry. Eventual Snape mentors story.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am not making money off of this story. The end.

Summary: The Avada Kedavra spell has some…unintended after effects. Harry goes to Hogwarts a bit wiser, and with several new friends to rely on. The only problem is, only he can see them.

**Shimmer**, by Lucy (KaleidoscopeEyes80)

_Chapter 1: Unique Little Boy_

Harry James Potter of number four Privet Drive had always had been different. His mommy and daddy (who he could barely remember on his good days) had often told him he was special. His Auntie (who he tried to forget on his bad days) often told him he was a freak. His teacher at school often said he was a bright little boy, if only he would try harder in class. And his cousin often said he was a no good dummy.

But it was his best friend, Sophie, who told him he wasn't just different, he was _unique_.

The first time he saw her he was five years old. She sat down next to him to play in the dirt during recess. He had snatched a broken toy car from his cousin's toy chest while cleaning his room the day before. That day, he was running it over the rocks and sand, despite the missing wheels, and pretending he was a cop chasing great mutant ants in the deserted wastelands.

She made him jump a bit when she sat down, but she seemed friendly enough, and so he let her play. She was dressed differently- but so was he, being dressed in his cousin's cast offs, and so he knew better than to say anything about what _she_ wore. Her dress was a light pink and bit frilly, her dark hair was pulled up with a matching bow, and he found it downright weird that such a, well, _girly_ girl, wanted to play in the dirt with a broken and beat up car with him.

"_What are you playing?"_ she asked.

"Ants an' cops. You be the general an' chase 'em away with that stick, an' I'll go after the other ones," he said. Chasing ants was serious business, and not everyone was cut out to be a cop.

"_You seem nice but aren't you too little to go to school?" _she said, after a few minutes. "_I'm Sophie. What's your name?"_

"Harry. An' I'm not little. 'M five this past July!"

"_Well, you're a small five then, aren't you? I have a brother who's three. You look more like his size."_

He glared at her. Maybe she wasn't so nice after all.

"Why don'cha fin' someone else to play wit. You're not bein' nice. I'll tell Miss Dover on you!"

"_I would play with someone else, but they're all ignoring me! And I don't belong to your year-you tell Miss Dover all you want!" _And then she stood up and flounced away.

As soon as she left, he regretted chasing her away. She was the only person his age so far who had spoken to him without being chased off by Dudley. So, before he could think about that little fact, he chased after her.

But he couldn't find her. He looked by the gate to the yard, and under the slide, and by the oak tree. He even went as far as asking Miss Dover if she had seen a girl with a pink bow named Sophie. Miss Dover looked at him funny and said no. She was _gone._

The next time he saw her was on his way home from school. Auntie always picked up Dudley from school, but he had to walk home. It wasn't too far, and it was a pretty fall day, so he didn't mind. He was humming a song he'd sung in music that day, when he noticed Sophie standing on the side of the road.

"Oh!" Harry called out, "'m sorry bout what I said. Can we still be friends?"

Sophie looked back at him, tilted her head to the side, and smiled, "_I…suppose so. I don't really have many friends like you._"

"Yeah? Well, most boys are mean, aren't they?" he said.

"_Hmmm…I guess. Why are you walking home? Is it far?"_

"Um, not really. I have to go down to the end of this street, an' then turn on to Wisteria, an' then on to Privet. It's not far. Where do you live?" She was walking with Harry while they talked, and suddenly worried, he said, "Shouldn' you tell your mum where yer goin'?"

She laughed at that, "_I live a little ways from here. And don't worry about Mother, she won't mind. But you didn't answer me- why are you walking? Didn't your aunt pick up your cousin?_"

"'Cause 'm a freak, an' freaks aren't 'llowed in cars like normal people," he said patiently. His auntie and uncle had to explain this to him a lot- it was the reason he wasn't allowed on chairs, and had to do lots and lots of chores.

Sophie just giggled. "_You're not a freak. You're unique!"_

Harry looked at her cautiously. He'd never heard that word before. "What's you-neek mean?"

"_Unique. One of a kind."_

"Is it a bad thing?"

"_No, of course not!"_

"Ok, good," He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want his new friend to think he bad like his Auntie did.

Sophie and Harry were inseparable after that. Dudley never came and chased her away and Harry counted his blessings that his new friend had gone completely unnoticed by his much larger cousin. She talked with him on the playground, and in the backyard of number 4 Privet drive while he was weeding the begonias. She would tell him crazy stories about dragons and castles and goblins, and Harry was very careful not to mention them to his auntie. He had, one day, and his auntie had thrown him out in the snow, because, according to her, crazy stories were Dangerous.

So Harry decided that, because he liked Sophie's stories, that he must be Dangerous too.

By the time Harry was seven, he was convinced that the crazy stories she told had to be true.

"_Have I ever told you the story about the Three Brothers?"_ she would say, swinging her legs back and forth on the edge of the garden wall. Harry would say no, and she would launch into a fantastic tale for him.

One day, while they were talking, his Auntie overheard and came out screaming.

"Harry Potter! Are you talking to yourself? Have you no decency? What will the neighbors think? You filthy, crazy boy!" she hissed. "A freak! Just like your good for nothing father!"

"But, Auntie! I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to Sophie!" he said, and he turned towards the garden wall to introduce her to his Aunt. But Sophie was nowhere to be found.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am not making money off of this story. The end.

Summary: The Avada Kedavra spell has some…unintended after effects. Harry goes to Hogwarts a bit wiser, and with several new friends to rely on. The only problem is, only he can see them.

**Shimmer**, by Lucy (KaleidoscopeEyes80)

_Chapter 2: Talkative Cat_

Seven year old Harry was miserable the next day at school. His Auntie had shown no mercy when she thought he was talking to himself. Now his bum hurt to sit on, but sit he did, all through his morning classes. His mind kept wandering; several times, Miss Dover had to snap at him to pay attention. He couldn't figure out where Sophie had gone to. Had she run away when she'd spotted his Aunt?

She didn't show up during recess or on the walk home either. She didn't appear when he was painting the shed, or when his Auntie sent him outside to eat his dinner. She seemed to have forgotten about him.

So had his Auntie, unfortunately. After dinner, she'd locked the backdoor and turned out the lights. And so, Harry had the whole night outdoors to look forward to.

He knew he'd drifted off to sleep at some point, because a rustling in the trees made him jerk awake from a dream about the circus. He sat up, rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses, and peered into the trees.

There was a cat, sitting on a branch, licking its paw.

Harry had always like cats and other animals. His cousin Dudley, however, did not. Harry was constantly trying to rescue poor creatures that Dudley had beaten and tortured. In fact, this particular cat looked an awful lot like Dudley's gang's most recent victim. Harry hadn't been able to save that cat, and had buried it under the trees at the edge of the backyard.

Harry was bored, and knew that the other occupants of the house were asleep. So he called to the cat softly, "Here kitty, kitty."

The cat just looked at him, with piercing green eyes. "_I have a name you know. It's Apollo."_

Harry jumped. Since when did cats talk? He must have misheard. But, he tried the name anyway, "Here, Apollo."

The cat leapt gracefully from the branch and sauntered across the yard towards Harry. He butted the boy's hand playfully, and Harry began to pet him, noticing how cold his fur was.

"_Oh, right there, right between the ears please, thank you."_

Harry giggled quietly before asking, "Do you talk to everyone like this?"

The cat regarded him for a moment, before responding, "_No, not really. You're a very unique boy, after all."_

Harry continued to pet and talk to Apollo, who told him about his old mistress (a witch! A real witch!) and asked if he could stay. Harry agreed, but only on the condition that Apollo would stay outside and away from his Aunt and his cousin.

Harry no longer saw Sophie, but Apollo kept him company, sneaking into the house after Harry was put in his cupboard for the night. He always found a way in, to keep the boy company. And that was how Harry found his second friend.

Harry told all of Sophie's stories to Apollo, including his favorite, about a grubby goat. Apollo didn't know many stories, but he did know a lot about the world. And the first thing he told Harry was that _normal_ little boys didn't sleep in broom cupboards.

"Well, I'm not normal, now am I. I'm unique," Harry replied calmly.

And Apollo seemed to accept that. The second thing he told Harry was about a magical place called Hogwarts, where his mistress' two children went to school.

Harry had heard a lot about magic from Sophie, so the fact there was a school that taught it didn't surprise him much, "But I won't be going of course. I'm not magical. I'm just Harry."

"_Oh yes you will. There's definitely something magical about you if you can talk to me, after all."_

And so, when Harry received a letter a week prior to his eleventh birthday, made of thick parchment and baring the Hogwarts crest, he was the only one in his family who was _not _surprised.

A/N: Done with the intro! Finally. :D


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